My Alleged Husband

Chapter 204: Chapter 184 Let’s Break Up!_1

Xia Jing watched the girl in front of her as tears started spinning in her eyes, yet she stubbornly refused to let them trail down her cheeks. Xia Jing knew the girl was just holding on; she needed to let it out, but the girl wouldn’t vent her emotions on her. For that, she truly admired the girl. However, it wouldn’t change her opinion of the girl. Xia Jing turned away, leaving the little girl standing alone. The girl squatted on the ground and began to cry. Her heart ached—why was her path to love so difficult? She just wanted a simple kind of love, a simple marriage, to live with the man she loved for so many years. Why was it so hard? Why couldn’t her future mother-in-law understand her intentions? She had no bad intentions at all, and she wasn’t greedy for money. She only wanted to live a plain life. Even if her future husband were penniless, a beggar, she’d be happy because he was the man she cherished. But everything was far from as simple as she had imagined, and she was unaware of even greater hardships that awaited her.

Ran Zhihan cried alone for a very long time. She didn’t know what to choose—on one side was the man she had loved for ten years, and on the other were the parents who had raised her for twenty years. How could she abandon her parents to choose a man she had known for only ten years? But the thought of forsaking her love to save her parents was just as painful. She was utterly at a loss about what to do. She made her way back to Li Jiayuan’s house slowly. Lei Shao saw Ran Zhihan returning home with a soul-lost appearance, unable to grasp why she was cheerful when she left, but came back looking so dejected. He couldn’t help but ask her what had happened.

”Zhihan, tell me what’s wrong? You were so cheerful when you went out, how did you become like this after being out for just a while?” Lei Shao said.

Not knowing how to explain it to Lei Shao, Ran Zhihan chose to remain silent.

Seeing her like this, Lei Shao became a bit anxious.

”If something is bothering you, just tell me. I promised Brother to take care of you here. Seeing you so heartbroken, how am I supposed to explain this to my brother? Tell me what happened. Did something happen to your uncle and aunt? Are you facing problems at school? You can tell me anything, don’t hide it from me. We’re going to be family in the future, why would you keep secrets from me? I’ll be your brother too!”

”If I tell you, you mustn’t tell your elder brother, okay? I don’t want your elder brother to know about this...”

”Alright, as long as you tell me, I absolutely won’t tell Brother Yichen. Does that reassure you?”

”Actually, I went out to meet Yichen’s mother just now, and I don’t know why she is so opposed to me. No matter what I do, she simply refuses to acknowledge me. She wants me to leave Brother Yichen. Maybe, today is the day I should make a choice. Coming here to study was the greatest favor my grandfather could give me; I shouldn’t be greedy to want to stay by his side. So, I’ve decided to break up with your brother. I hope you won’t tell him the real reason for our break-up. I don’t want him to hate his mother again because she really misses him a lot!”

Lei Shao did not expect Ran Zhihan to be considering Zhang Yichen’s feelings even at a time like this. A surge of anger rose in his heart, but he did not know how to vent it.

”Sister, you might as well just tell Brother Yichen directly,” he said. ”Why do you insist on keeping it from him? This whole situation was clearly caused by Auntie’s wrongdoing, so why should you be the one to bear it? Tell me, did she threaten you with your parents? Is that it? Otherwise, I believe your feelings for Brother Yichen can’t be so easily undermined by a few words from Auntie. I hope you can tell me the truth, okay?”

”Yes, his mother threatened me with my parents. If I didn’t leave him, his mother would... Tell me, what should I do? He’s the man I’ve loved for twenty years. From the moment I saw him, I fell for him at first sight. But on the other side are my biological parents who raised me for over a decade. How could I possibly forsake my kinship? Do you understand how difficult it is to be caught in the middle? But what else can I do? I can’t abandon my parents. We’re a poor family, and they’ve made so many sacrifices just so I could go to college. Do you know how much it hurts every time I look at their hands? From that time, I swore I’d make a good life for my parents, to show everyone who looked down on us that we too could enter high society. But, the heavens were unkind, and in the end, I didn’t get to study abroad. It’s only because Yichen’s grandfather sponsored me that I got this opportunity, and I’m so grateful for his generosity. But I can’t stand his mother threatening me with my parents’ wellbeing time and time again. I care about my parents more than my own life. What do you think I should choose? After pondering over and over, I could only decide to let go of my feelings for him. I still hope you can keep this secret for me!”

”Do you really have the heart to give up on Brother Yichen? You know very well that for the past ten years, he has been crazily, desperately striving to become an economic emperor, all so that one day he could be with the girl he loves. And now, you’re choosing to give up the love between you and him. Do you realize how much of a blow it would be to him? Can you bear to see him so distraught and brokenhearted because of you?”

”To be honest, I really don’t want to give up on him, and I can’t bear to see him so lost and heartbroken for my sake. But what can I do? Should I abandon my parents for my own romantic feelings, for this childish love? Don’t you think that would be incredibly unfair to my parents? They’ve painstakingly raised a daughter for over a decade, only to find she’s unfilial. How could they accept you? How would the world view me? I don’t want to become such a person. I’d rather give up my own emotions than abandon my parents. Familial love is the real, everlasting support...”

”Since you’ve made up your mind, then you must never have any regrets!”

Ran Zhihan continued to cry as she made a phone call to Zhang Yichen, ”Yichen, what are you up to?”

Zhang Yichen was overjoyed to see a call from his girlfriend. He thought that if she was calling him, there must be some good news, some positive development from her side. That must be why she was calling him. But when he heard what his girlfriend said to him, he was truly stunned. He couldn’t understand why she would suddenly say these things.

”I was just thinking about you. What made you decide to call me today? Do you miss me too?”

”Yichen, I have something to tell you.”

”Go ahead!”

”Dear, this is the first time—and the last time—I call you that. Let’s break up. Perhaps I’m really not suitable for you. Did you know? I’ve been really happy with you all these days. It’s not that I want to hurt you, but I’m at my wit’s end. Leaving you now seems like the best choice for both of us. Can you understand me? Don’t look for me, because you won’t be able to find me ever again. Without me, you have to take good care of yourself, eat well, and live well. And please tell Grandpa for me that I will pay him back for my tuition when I can afford it. He has been so kind to me; I am the one who let him down, who failed to meet his expectations.”

Zhang Yichen was stunned. By the time he regained his composure and opened his mouth to speak, Ran Zhihan had already hung up the phone.

Lei Shao watched Ran Zhihan hold back her tears as she said all this, and his heart was in agony. He was torn about whether to tell Zhang Yichen the truth.

Zhang Yichen kept calling Ran Zhihan, but her phone was already switched off. Frustrated, he threw his phone away...